Seeking security: COVID-19 job victims navigate a world of record unemployment
Stephanie Kukulka lost her communications manager job at an architecture firm because of the coronavirus pandemic, and says she has only just moved past the "anger" stage of the grief cycle.
Stephanie Kukulka was made redundant from her communications role due to the pandemic.Credit:Jason South
Ms Kukulka has since begun contemplating what this all means for her, and while she says her immediate future was previously defined by the hard work she had done to build a career, it sometimes feels like she's now back at square one.
"I just feel so unsure and concerned about my career," the 31-year-old from the Melbourne suburb of Northcote says. "The job was great. I have done my best to talk my way back into it, but it hasn’t really worked so far."
Ms Kukulka is one of 594,000 Australians who lost their jobs in April, the biggest monthly fall on record, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The ABS figures, released on Thursday, had Australia’s unemployment rate jumping 1 percentage point to 6.2 per cent last month, the highest rate since 2015.
Six million people are on the government's JobKeeper payment, but Ms Kukulka's workplace has not done that.
"You work so hard, spend so long going to university, doing internships, and then all of a sudden you lose your job and I am now worrying if my career matters any more," she said.
"Will I ever get paid what I was getting paid? Will I land another role where my skills are being used? Should I drop back and accept a job that I don’t like because I need money?
"I still don’t know what that looks like. When do I say I will stop and take something, a career, that I don’t necessarily want?"
Ms Kukulka is four weeks into a six-week online digital marketing course at RMIT University.
Design is a passion, given her job in architecture and previous ones in construction, so she is also helping plan the end of her parents' home extension.
Recruiters are telling Ms Kukulka that digital, communications and marketing opportunities at agencies will probably be her best chance of a job once the economy is back to something more normal.
"The main thing is having purpose when you get up. Knowing what to do and setting routine is massive. I am always out of bed at 8.30am, I just have to get up."
Ms Kukulka has a university degree, a supportive partner and family, and practical things such as computer skills and a printer, but even for her it has been difficult applying for welfare.
She worries about people less fortunate than her, and is staggered by aspects such as the government's job website not accepting PDF resumes.
"I feel very annoyed that this is what it's like for other people who maybe don't have the means or access to what I have.
"It's still difficult for me and I would love it if someone could change how hard it is."